A new outlook

UIS undergrad gives the greatest gift  her time

In a give-and-take world, Shana Stine knows only how
to give. The University of Illinois-Springfield junior has
volunteered more than 300 hours of her time to local organizations like Big
Brothers, Big Sisters and spent last year’s winter break building a
new home for a deserving family in Mexico — but, she says, it was her
decision to spend a summer month working in a Kenyan orphanage that blessed
her with a new perspective.“Once you’re in a Third World country and
you jump rope and hang out with orphans who have nothing — no
parents, no food that’s their own — you can’t come back
to the United States and be the same,” Stine says. “You
can’t.”Stine decided after returning to UIS this fall that
she wanted to focus on helping the poor in Springfield. Because of her
contagious enthusiasm for volunteerism and her role as the resident advisor
and coordinator for a special dormitory wing made up of freshmen interested
in community service, Stine soon inspired others to adopt her passion for
assisting the city’s downtrodden. She had previously volunteered at the Springfield
Overflow Shelter and decided that it would be the perfect place to meet and
help the homeless. Last month, when she brought a group of freshmen
residents to the shelter for the first time, Stine says she was amazed by
what she learned. Francie Staggs, the SOS volunteer coordinator,
watched as Stine walked around after dinner and interacted with the
homeless.“Some volunteers stay away,” Staggs says,
“but she walked right over and sat down at a table and talked to our
residents. That’s what we want people to do.”In just one night, Stine says, she met former
business leaders, Sunday-school teachers, and UIS postgraduate students.
She learned that many of the shelter’s patrons are there because of
pride — they’ve made bad decisions and are afraid to face them.

Shanas residents at an October service
retreat.

“You realize that those who are at the shelter
and those who volunteer at the shelter are not really that far away from
each other at all,” Stine says. “I could easily make one or two
mistakes and be staying there.”This was one of many lessons, Stine says, that she
also wanted to teach her freshmen residents. Although many of them had done
community service, she says that not many had ever worked with the homeless
and at first they were nervous about visiting the shelter. Stine says that
they asked her stereotypical questions: “Do the homeless smell
bad?” “Are they mean?” “Are they all crazy?”But after one shift of serving dinner and spending
time with the shelter’s patrons, Stine says, she noticed a change in
the freshmen. They asked Stine to share the stories that she had heard and
asked whether next time they could walk around and speak more with the
people staying in the shelter. “For them to be in an environment where they
are serving and having a conversation with the homeless has really changed
their outlook on things and really fought their tendencies to be
apathetic,” Stine says. Stine’s residents now visit the SOS to
volunteer individually and are becoming known as regulars by those at the
shelter. For many of them, it was a goal to get to know the homeless of
Springfield, but Stine says they have achieved far more. “You can always talk about people who are
hurting, but when you know them, their faces, their stories, that’s
when things really change for you,” Stine says. Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com.